Personally, I prefer genuine R4 Dvd’s, but if I cannot get certain films then I’d go for a different region version (as long as you have a multi region player, which most newer ones are today). But there are also bootleg copies and fakes around. If you see a new release dvd being sold from Asia for $5, you can be fairly sure it’s a copy. Sometimes they don’t even send it in the Dvd case ‘to save postage’, meaning it’s sure to be a copy. Basically, you get what you pay for.

There are sellers who dropship, meaning they wait till they get your payment and order the Dvd’s from Asia, mostly from China. I’ve had this happen with a TV series box set, all 9 seasons for $150. Again, you get what you pay for. But I must admit the quality of the copies was quite good and am still to watch all the discs! If the seller claim the dvd's are genuine factory released and they turn out to be pirated copies, that’s false and misleading advertising, and should be reported to the seller first (they may not realise it's a copy) and if the problem isn't resolved then contact Ebay.

Search Ebay for similar titles, and see if the cover art is different to other dvd's. If so, it's probably a copy. If there's foreign characters, usually Chinese, on the cover or disc, it's probably pirated. Spelling errors on the covers indicates a pirated copy, as do Asian subtitles.